1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a storage device, and relates in particular to a storage device equipped with multiple interfaces for connection to an external device.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives, which are storage devices designed to store data, enjoy widespread use as one type of peripheral for personal computers. There are various different interfaces for connecting a computer and a hard disk drive. Such interfaces include, for example, the IEEE 1394 interface, the USB interface, and the LAN interface.
Hard disk drives that are equipped with multiple interfaces for connection to computers are known in the art. When a hard disk drive of this kind has been physically connected to a computer via the multiple interfaces, the hard disk drive will be operated by the computer through one interface ranked highest in a predetermined order of precedence, or through one interface representing the connection that was set up first, for example.
With the conventional hard disk drive mentioned above, it is not possible to switch the interface being used or to modify the order of precedence of the interfaces while the hard disk drive is connected to a computer and in use. Specifically, when it is desired to switch the interface or modify the order of precedence, it is necessary to first release the connection between the hard disk drive and the computer, for example, by unplugging the connecting cable or by rebooting. Accordingly, with conventional hard disk drives having multiple interfaces, there is room for improvement in terms of user convenience.
This problem is not limited to hard disk drives; rather, it is a problem common generally to storage devices having multiple interfaces.